History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 25

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches > Part 25

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2,713,125

Collected by Assessor, outside. 322,230

Money and solvent credits, inside .. 281,160

Money and solvent credits, outside 137,345

Total personal $ 12,553,905 Total of all non-operative prop. 91,709,715

Operative Roll

Real estate $ 2,144,060

Improvements

297,955

Personal property, money, solvent

credits

6,921,045

Total operative property .. $ 9,363,060

Grand total of all property

101,072,775

Exempt Property

Veterans, 605 exempt; value of

exemption $ 533,255

College of Notre Dame. 220,860

University of Santa Clara. 155,880

Stanford University . 411,560

College of Pacific. 48,400

Total exemptions. $ 1,369,955 Total property, non-operative, operative and exempt ... 102,442,730

Property in Road Districts

Road District No. 1

$ 8,295,525

No. 2.

4,750,410

No. 3

6,379,905

. No. 4

16,591,460

No. 5.

13,796,950

Valuation Incorporated Cities

San Jose $ 27,411,825

Gilroy

1,064,225

Morgan Hill

284,495

Santa Clara

2,574,435

Los Gatos

1,343,470

Sunnyvale

+46,795

Mayfield

484,175

Mountain View

746,905

Palo Alto

4,347,675

Alviso

270,515

CHAPTER XIII.

County Government and Good Roads-The Transportation Facilities of the Early Days-History of Various Important Road and Railway Enter- prises-The Rise and Fall of Toll Roads-Early Modes of Transporta- tion-First Telegraph Line.

There is no better index of the character of a people than the nature of the laws and the manner in which they are administered. As a rule the California codes closely follow the codes of New York, but in matters of state, and especially of county, government there are many vital differences. An intelligent ex- amination will show that all the best experi- ence of the older states has been embodied in the California legislative laws, for hither came, in the early days, some of the brightest minds in the legal profession at a time when the laws were ready to be made on the most ap- proved plans. It is hard to budge an estab- lished system of government, even when its defects are apparent. California, therefore, having few laws and no prejudices in early days, was ready to profit by all that had been learned in the older communities. 10

Down to 1879, the state had moved along under the constitution of 1863, but the grow- ing power of certain strong corporations and the large influx of Chinese brought about a revolution in politics. The working classes asserted themselves and in 1879 a new con- stitution was adopted that radically changed not only many of the vital principles of the laws, but at the same time provided great changes in the legislative branches of the gov- ernment. Some of these changes went into effect by the terms of the constitution (such as the abolition of District, County and Pro- bate courts and the establishment in their place of the Superior Court), but others, par- ticularly those governing county and munici- pay legislative bodies, required action by the Legislature. Such action was soon taken, but working under the new constitution was an

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

experimental business, and the acts passed for those purposes were declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional. It was not un- til 1883 that a law providing for a uniform system of county government was passed that stood the test of the courts. Since then, sev- eral amendments, relating principally to county officers and their remuneration, have been passed, but the general system of gov- ernment has not been impaired.

As the constitution requires that all laws shall be uniform in their operation, and as special legislation of all kinds is prohibited. a general system of county government is provided : but as some counties are more densely populated than others, and as there- fore there had to be a variation in the number of county officers, the counties were divided into classes, according to population, the only material difference in the laws for the various classes being the number of officers provided for. the law for the administration of the county affairs in all the counties being the same. This plan greatly simplified matters in many ways, especially in the determination by the higher courts of vexations problems that occasionally arise. Nearly every problem of consequence has already been determined, so that now the business of all the counties pro- ceeds on established lines.

The judicial branch of the county govern- ment is the Superior Court. Santa Clara County, according to class, is provided with three judges. They divide the work between themselves, handling probate. civil and crim- inal cases. The officers of the Superior Court are the county clerk, sheriff and district at- torney. These. of course, and especially the clerk, have multifarions duties apart from those appertaining to the court. Santa Clara County is Republican in politics, but in county elec- tions politics cuts small figure, so that the offices are divided between the Republicans and the Democrats. In 1920 the Republicans held the sheriff's, the surveyor's, the treasur- er's, the superintendent of schools' and the coroner's offices, while the Democrats held the offices of clerk, tax collector, assessor. dis- trict attorney and auditor. All the officers hold four years, except the judges, who hold six years.

The board of supervisors takes care of the finances of the county schools. The county superintendent is Miss Agnes E. Howe and the following are the members of the county board of education : Francis Gallimore, Santa Clara : J. K. Hancock (president). San Jose: Robert Loosemore, Los Gatos: W. P. Cramsie, San Jose: Agnes E. Howe (secretary). San Jose. There are ninety-one schools and 350 teachers in the county, exclusive of San Jose. The

school houses are handsome, well-built and commodious structures, with up-to-date ap- pointments.

At the head of the administrative depart- ment of the county government stands the board of supervisors. The county is divided into five districts on the basis of population. Hence it follows that some districts are much larger in area than others; some are wholly in the valley ; others partly in the mountains; some include the cities of the county, which have separate governments of their own and manage their own roads, schools and taxes. while others have to be adjusted and managed in the most skillful and intelligent manner so that common justice is done and a uniformity of public interest preserved. The system. therefore, is far more complicated than the uninformed are aware of.

The board is composed of five members, one from each district, the districts electing their own members. These elections are so regu- lated that at least two of the members on any elected board shall already have been in office two years, thus securing a constant quantity of experience. This is a very important fea- ture. A board composed entirely of new mem- bers might easily get into trouble through mistakes. The duties of the board are intri- cate. It must establish school districts, fix boundaries and provide money : it must take care of the roads, fix the tax rate, care for and maintain the county buildings, almshouse and infirmary: provide for the inspection of orchards, for the care of the county sick, infirm and poor ; make provision for every need of the county, fill vacancies in county offices, de- clare the result of county elections, make ap- propriations for various humanitarian and other purposes, sit as a board of equalization. and perform such other duties as befit the guardian of the county's welfare. The mainte- nance and establishment of good roads is one of the most important of the board's duties. and it may be said without fear of contradic- tion that in no county of the state has this work been more satisfactorily carried out. The preliminaries for road work are entrusted to the county surveyor. During the incum- bency of Surveyor Irving Ryder (seven years) ninety-eight miles of paved roads have been completed and in 1922 contracts were let for sixteen additional miles. Before his time the county had but twenty-two miles of completed paved roads. This does not include the state highway of about seventy-five miles, which runs from Palo Alto on the northwest side of the bay to San Jose and on to the southern end of the county at Sargent's Station ; and from a short distance beyond Milpitas on the north to San Jose and on to Los Gatos. The beginning

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the good roads movement came with the advent of the automobile. At first the super- visors made experiments in road paving, but all proved failures until the present concrete system was tried. Nearly all the roads in the county are paved with concrete. Other ma- terial, oil macadam, is used on some of the orchard roads and excellently answers all pur- poses. During the fiscal year 1919-1920 the road and bridge improvements of the county cost $582,000.

The history of road building in Santa Clara County shows that the matter of furnishing easy and convenient means of communication between the different sections of the county has been an important question before the county government since its organization. The demand for good roads has been met, almost before it was expressed, and the result of this policy, long continued with a liberal spirit, is seen in the broad, smooth, well-kept paved highways reaching to every part of the valley, winding through the orchards, among the foot- hills and extending over the mountains. These roads are watered during the summer months, making them always comfortable for travel.

Before the Americans came into possession in Santa Clara County, there were practically no roads. Travel was chiefly performed on horseback, and for this a narrow trail was suf- ficient. Where the ox-carts ran there were tracks a little wider, but they had no legal ex- istence as roads. There being no fences and the country being used mainly for grazing. there was no necessity for the warning to "keep off the grass," and in going from one point to the other, the route was generally an air-line, except where intervening water courses compelled the traveler to seek an easy ford or crossing, or where opposing hills re- quired a circuit to be made. Even when wagons first came into use, this system was kept up, and in the winter time, when the ground was wet and soft, the wagon tracks ran parallel to each other to such an extent that it was a common saying that the road from San Jose to San Francisco was three miles wide. With the Americans came a dif- ferent system. About the first order made by the county government after its organization was in reference to public roads. The order is of interest, as it established the first high- ways in the county. It was made by the Court of Sessions on July 6, 1850, and is as follows:

"It is ordered by the court that the follow- ing roads be, and they are hereby declared. public highways within and for the County of Santa Clara, to-wit :

"First-A road commencing at the City of San Jose and running where the present road now runs, by James Murphy's, and from

thence to the right of Lucencia Higuera's ranch through the Mission of San Jose to the county line, where the road crosses the Ar- royo Delmaya at Sunol's ranch.

"Second-Also a road commencing at the City of San Jose, at First or Monterey Street, and running where the road now runs to San Juan, until it reaches the county line.

"Third-Also a road commencing at the City of San Jose, at Santa Clara Street, and running where the present road now runs, to the Mission of Santa Clara, and from thence. by the left-hand road, to the old Indian village. thence by Busard's to S. Robles', and from thence to where the present road runs to the county line.

"Fourth-Also a road commencing at the City of San Jose, at Santa Clara Street, and to run where the present road now runs, to Santa Cruz, through Fernandez' ranch, by Jones' mill to the county line." The Jones' mill referred to is the present town of Los Gatos.

The third specification in the order above set forth refers to the road to San Francisco. S. Robles' ranch being the present town of Mountain View. The road includes the Ala- meda, famous in song and story. This avenue was laid out by the Fathers of the Mission of Santa Clara. The trees were planted by Father Catala, the work being performed by the Indians under his instruction. There were originally three rows of trees, one on each side and one in the center. The ground was moist and full of adobe, which, when wet, made traveling troublesome. Ditches were made for the purpose of drainage, but they but imperfectly accomplished their object. The shade of the trees excluded the sunshine and prevented evaporation. While during the summer months the Alameda was a most charming drive, for four or five months in the year it was almost impassable for vehicles. Travelers passing between Santa Clara and San Jose were compelled to seek the side of the road and often make a circuit of four or five miles. After dark it was not unusual for people to lose their way and be compelled to pass the night in the open air.

To meet this trouble the county government opened another road by way of what is now known as Union Avenue, back of the Fair Grounds, now Hanchett Park. This did not entirely obviate the difficulties, and in 1862 a franchise was granted to a company called "The Alameda Turnpike Company," granting it the privilege of collecting toll on the Ala- meda, the company to keep the road in good condition for travel. This company erected gates, but owing to the nature of the soil could never make the road good in all its parts

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

at all seasons. Many complaints were made and finally, in 1868, the county purchased the franchise of the company and declared the road free. The price paid by the county was $17,737.50. In 1870 the report went abroad that the road occupied more ground than be- longed to it, and that several feet on the south side was government land and subject to pre- emption. One night a gang of squatters car- ried lumber out on the road and enclosed strips of land on the south side, and in the morning many of the residents found themselves shut off from the highway. The squatters, how- ever, had nothing but their labor for their pains, as they were compelled to abandon their claims unconditionally. To prevent a recur- rence of this dispute an Act of Congress was procured in 1871 granting the county a right- of-way for the road, 115 feet wide and defining its location. Accurate official surveys were made and granite monuments placed so that the exact lines should always be preserved. The final location was made in 1873. After this date extraordinary efforts were made to keep the road in repair and maintain its beauty. These efforts were measurably suc- cessful. One of the greatest obstacles in the way of improvement was the shade cast by the center row of trees, and propositions for their removal were made from time to time. But each proposition was met by a remon- strance from the people, who looked upon the gnarled willows as a link connecting the past with the present, and although many of the trees had died and others were in advanced stages of decay, they were retained. Finally, in 1887, a proposition was made to construct an electric railroad along the center of the highway. In view of this improvement the people consented to part with the trees, and in the same year they were removed. Since then the avenue from San Jose to Santa Clara has been paved with concrete, thus forming a link in the long concrete-paved road from San Jose to San Francisco.

Santa Clara Avenue, or Alum Rock Avenue, as it is generally called, is the beautiful aventie from San Jose to the Alum Rock Springs in the canyon of the Penetencia, east of town. The original road was established by the board of supervisors in June, 1866. In 1872 an act was passed by the Legislature authoriz- ing the city of San Jose to survey and improve a road to be known as "Santa Clara Avenue," running from the eastern limits of the city to the city reservation in the eastern foothills. The act provided for a board of commissioners to be appointed by the governor, with power to superintend the work of construction and select a tract of 400 acres in the canyon for a public park. To construct and improve the

road and park, a tax was provided for all prop- erty in the city and all property lying within three-quarters of a mile on each side of the proposed avenue. This tax was to be ten cents on the hundred dollars for the first year and five cents per year for the next three years, to be levied by the city and county as other taxes are levied and collected. With this money the road was constructed and trees planted. At the end of four years, when the special tax expired, the road was kept up from the road fund of the road districts, in which the avenue was situated until 1878, when an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the board of supervisors to pay these expenses from the current expense fund. Today all the roads leading to the park entrance are main- tained by the county, while the roads inside the park are kept up by the city, which also pays for the improvement and maintenance of the park.

Saratoga Avenue was created at the same session of the Legislature, and in the same manner as Santa Clara Avenue, except that the act provided that the road should be 100 feet wide and that the special tax should be levied and collected by the trustees of the town of Santa Clara. The commissioners began work. laid out and opened the road, butt some of the outside property owners protested against pay- ing the tax. The objection was that it was an unconstitutional assessment, inasmuch as it was to be levied and collected by officers not elected for the purpose. The courts decided the objection to be valid and the road went into the hands of the county government as a public highway, and all improvements were paid for from the road fund of the district. In spite of the fact that there was no special reve- nue, the highway has been thoroughly im- proved and now it is one of the finest paved roads in the county.

In early days there seemed to be an impres- sion that the best way to improve the county roads was to grant franchises for toll com- panies, who were to keep the roads in repair in consideration of the privilege of collecting tolls. The argument used was that the people who used the roads ought to pay the expense of maintaining them. Acting on this proposi- tion, many such franchises were granted, some by the board of supervisors and some by the Legislature. The tollgate on the Alameda was the outgrowth of this idea.

In 1861 the San Jose and Alviso Turnpike Company secured a franchise to erect gates and collect tolls on the road from San Jose to Alviso. In 1863 the franchise was purchased by the county for $5,000 and the road declared a public highway. In 1867 the Saratoga and Pescadero Turnpike Company received a fran-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

chise for a toll road over the mountains from Saratoga. In 1880 the franchise was pur- chased by the county for $5,000 and the name changed to the "Congress Springs" road. The Gilroy and Watsonville road was a toll road in early days, but was declared a public high- way in 1874.

The Santa Cruz road from Los Gatos over the mountains was a toll road under a fran- chise from the state up to 1878, when it was declared a public highway by the board of su- pervisors. The company resisted the action of the board and attempted to maintain its gates. This caused considerable excitement and threatened serious trouble. The teamsters went in a body and tore the gate down. The company fought the matter in the courts and lost. The purchase of the Pacheco Pass road wiped out the last toll road in the county.

The most prominent, if not the most popu- lar, highway in the county is the Mount Ham- ilton road, or Lick Avenue. It has a world- wide fame for the reason that it leads to the great Lick Observatory and because it is one of the best mountain roads in the world. In September, 1875, James Lick addressed the board of supervisors, saying that he would locate his observatory on Mount Hamilton if the county would construct a first-class road to the summit, and if the county had not suffi- cient funds on hand to accomplish the task he would advance the money and take the coun- ty's bonds for the same. The proposition was accepted and on October 4, 1875, a preliminary survey was ordered. The committee on sur- vey reported that the construction of the road, including bridges, would costs $43,385. Mr. Lick then deposited $25,000 in the Commercial & Savings Bank as a guaranty that he would stand by his proposition. A. T. Herrmann was appointed engineer for the work and on February 8, 1876, the contract for construction was let to E. L. Derby. Up to this time the work had gone on with great expedition, but now, the people having had time to talk the matter over, considerable doubt was expressed as to the advisability of the enterprise. It was argued that the county might go to great expense in building the road and that in the end Mr. Lick might change his mind in regard to the location of the observatory. In that event the county would have a very expensive road that would be of very little practical use. The majority of the board had very little doubt of Mr. Lick's good faith, but in order to satisfy the popular demand they arranged mat- ters so that Mr. Lick deposited a further sum of $25,000, subject to warrants drawn for the construction of the road, and agreed to take county bonds therefor, payable when the ob- servatory was completed on the mountain.

When this point was settled an oppositon was developed from another source. W. N. Fur- long, as chairman of the board, refused to sign the contract with Derby, but finally consented under protest. The protest claimed that there was no authority of law for building the road in this manner, as the statute required all money levied in any road district to be ex- pended in the district paying the same; that there was no law compelling the county at large to pay for a road, and that the county had no authority to enter into a contract with Mr. Lick to advance the money. The board, to satisfy the former objection, passed a reso- lution that the Legislature would be asked to pass an act authorizing the county to issue bonds to the amount of $120,000, of which $50,000 should be applied to the indebtedness of the several road districts in the county, and the balance used to pay the warrants drawn for the construction of the proposed road. Thus this difficulty was disposed of. There were numerous minor obstacles to contend with which caused much trouble and vexation to the promoters of the enterprise, but they were finally disposed of. Up to May 22, 1876. the sum of $45,115.34 had been paid on Derby's contract. In the meantime there was great dissatisfaction with Derby's operations, and he had been compelled to assign his contract to his bondsmen, who had established a trust for their protection, drawing the money on the contract and paying the contractor's verified bills. This dissatisfaction caused the board to appoint a committee to investigate the work. The report showed grave misconduct by the contractor. In September the contract was de- clared forfeited and on October 5, 1876, the board authorized its committee to go on with the work. This the committee did, employing Messrs. Drinkwater and Swall as superintend- ents. On January 9. 1877, the Lick board of trustees and the supervisors made an official in- spection of the road, and afterwards the trus- tees declared officially that the work had been done in a satisfactory manner and that the road met all of Mr. Lick's requirements. The in- spection was a general holiday throughout the county, there being about 5,000 visitors to the summit of the mountain on that day. On Jan- uary 13, 1877, the road was declared to be fully completed, the total cost being $73,458.88. Of this amount $27,339.87 was in outstanding war- rants against the general road fund. An act was passed in the Legislature of 1878 authoriz- ing the board of supervisors to issue bonds to pay these warrants and accrued interest, the bonds to bear no interest. and to be payable when the observatory was practically com- pleted. The gentlemen composing the board of supervisors during the time the Mount Hamil-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ton road was in course of construction were : 1875-W. N. Furlong, chairman : J. M. Battee, J. W. Boulware, A. Chew, Abram King, H. M. Leonard, William Paul. 1876-H. M. Leonard, chairman ; S. F. Ayer, J. M. Battee, A. Chew. W. N. Furlong. Abram King, W. H. Rogers. 1877-78-Same as in 1876, with the exception that J. M. Battee was chairman.

Under Mexican rule the transportation of passengers was almost exclusively on horse- back. Women and children would occasionally take passage for short distances in the rude carts of that time, but journeys generally. whether long or short, were performed in the saddle. As the foreigners came in they adopted the same custom, for the reason there was no other means of conveyance. When affairs be- came settled after the Mexican war and the country began to be settled by immigrants from the states, other methods of transporta- tion for passengers and freight were looked for. Boats to ply between San Francisco and Alviso were secured and connection with them from San Jose was made with wagons. The cost for each passenger for this trip was thirty-five dollars.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 25

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1934

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934